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Discover Vietnamese water puppetry (Múa rối nước)

Water puppet is a typical form of Vietnamese art, especially in Hanoi, which has existed for more than 1000 years. In many guide books in Vietnam, people said that “Not watching a performance of water puppetry means not visiting Vietnam yet.” And it is definitely true that most visitors to Vietnam should try to watch a performance of water puppetry at least once.

Let’s take a look and find some interesting things about this form of folk arts as below:

1. In the past, water puppetry only served for the King’s family and ancient Vietnamese aristocracy amusement.

2. A water puppet show is performed in a pool of water as the stage of the puppets.

3. Water Puppetry is full of joys, lighting and colors and surprises for the audience.

It is one of Vietnamese tradition that referred to Vietnamese traditions by means of water puppets, like daily life of Vietnamese farmers (cultivating, tending buffalo, catching fishes…), communal entertainment (swimming contest, dragon dancing…), or historical legends.

Many funny faces of Puppets

4. The puppets are controlled by no more than eight puppeteers hiding behind a bamboo screen.